TRUE CONFESSIONS

Bby Eric Kokish

The second half of the (Mixed Teams, round of 16) match between BROGELAND and HOLT (a 5-IMP win for the Norwegians) has already been reported in the Daily Bulletin, but there was more to this deal than the analyst could know from the information at his disposal.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª 9 8 4 © 7 5 4 ¨ 9 6 5 4 2 § A 6
ª K 6 3 © Q 9 2 ¨ J 8 7 3 § Q 10 7		ª A Q 10 5 © A K J 6 ¨ K Q 10 § 9 2
	ª J 7 2 © 10 8 3 ¨ A § K J 8 5 4 3

West	North	East	South
Kokish		Cronier
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1¨	2§
Pass	Pass	Dble	Pass
3¨	All Pass

There was mention made of West’s reluctance to act over 2§ because he feared a three-card diamond suit, but that was not a factor in West’s decision to pass. The truth was that he did not see his fourth diamond (let us not ask West what he believed his distribution to be) and his feeble attempt to recover by jumping to 3¨ did not get the job done. East assumed that West had long diamonds and a weak hand (3¨ directly would have been a limit raise and 2¨ would have suggested enough strength for a normal single raise) and her pass of 3¨ was entirely reasonable. Mea culpa, Béné.

At the other table . . .

Closed Room
West	North	East	South
Brogeland		Aastad
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1©	2§
2©	Pass	3§	Pass
3NT	All Pass

The defenders cleared clubs and the fate of 3NT turned on declarer’s handling of the spade suit for four tricks. When he played off his hearts South discarded a club and North . . . a spade. While this deal will not make the short list for inclusion in the Discarding Hall of Fame, North could claim that he was misled by South’s deceptive false suit-preference signal on the third round of clubs. South’s heartfelt apology for leading North astray may have lost something in the translation.

But that is beside the point. The most interesting aspect of this deal was highlighted by Boye Brogeland, who did his best to console North/South by pointing out that he would “probably” have played the spades successfully even if North had kept his spade holding intact, relying on South’s failure to discard a diamond (she was marked with the ace) as an indication that she did not have a small card in the suit to relinquish. That would place her with 3-3-1-6 distribution and the third-round finesse against North’s putative jack-fourth of spades would therefore be the wrong play.

Although South, with 2-3-2-6, could afford to throw a club to keep a small diamond, that’s the sort of discard that anyone could miss in the jungle heat. That’s certainly one to remember, from both sides of the table.

Maximum effect

When it comes to pre-emption, Brian Senior believes that the best strategy is to bid to the limit of the hand right away. On this deal from the Mixed Teams Consolation, Senior and his partner took advantage of a bid that was less than the maximum.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	ª 8 3 © J 9 5 4 3 2 ¨ 7 § J 9 5 2
ª 6 © A K ¨ A K 8 6 3 2 § K Q 10 6		ª A 7 © Q 10 8 ¨ Q J 10 4 § A 8 7 4
	ª K Q J 10 9 5 4 2 © 7 6 ¨ 9 5 § 3

West	North	East	South
B. Senior		Penfold
	Pass	1NT	3ª
4¨	Pass	5¨	Pass
5©	Pass	5ª	Pass
6§	Pass	7¨	All Pass

The 3ª bid over 1NT (11-14) gave Senior and Sandra Penfold enough room to explore for a grand slam, duly reached on an excellent auction.

At the other table, Senior’s wife, Nevena, playing with Geoff Wolfarth, did not mess around.

West	North	East	South
	Wolfarth		N. Senior
	Pass	1§	4ª
5ª	Pass	6§	All Pass

West is due some sympathy –there are many opening hands East could hold without the ªA. It’s a gamble to commit to a grand slam without the room to explore. East-West, in fact, reached a contract with only 12 tricks available, thanks to the foul break in clubs. It was an 11-IMP swing for the Senior team.

The swing was not enough, however, to upend the Alberti squad, which won the match 19-11.

Typically Mixed

By Mark Horton

One of the joys of a mixed event is discovering how some of the men turn into Hideous Hogs. Who can forget the story of the chauvinist who was faced by a lead out of turn. When advised by the Director that there were several options he said. ‘Don’t bother to read out the one about partner playing the hand.’

What do make of West’s action on this deal?

Dealer West. None Vul
	ª Q 10 © J 10 9 ¨ J 9 3 § A J 7 6 3
ª A J 3 © Q 6 3 2 ¨ A 6 4 § K Q 5		ª 9 7 6 © A 8 5 4 ¨ K 10 5 § 8 4 2
	ª K 8 5 4 2 © K 7 ¨ Q 8 7 2 § 10 9

West	North	East	South
B	Meltzer		Larsen
1¨	Pass	1©	Pass
1NT	All Pass

All you can say is that West picked his moment, as Two Hearts is destined to fail, while 1NT is an easy make. When Bermuda Bowl Champion Rose Meltzer asked her screen mate if they played support doubles he managed to keep a straight face as he replied, ‘Yes, but only with three card support.’